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Relating hygroscopicity and optical properties to chemical composition and structure of secondary organic aerosol particles generated from the ozonolysis of α-pinene
2015, Denjean, C., Formenti, P., Picquet-Varrault, B., Pangui, E., Zapf, P., Katrib, Y., Giorio, C., Tapparo, A., Monod, A., Temime-Roussel, B., Decorse, P., Mangeney, C., Doussin, J.F.
Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) were generated from the ozonolysis of α-pinene in the CESAM (French acronym for Experimental Multiphasic Atmospheric Simulation Chamber) simulation chamber. The SOA formation and aging were studied by following their optical, hygroscopic and chemical properties. The optical properties were investigated by determining the particle complex refractive index (CRI). The hygroscopicity was quantified by measuring the effect of relative humidity (RH) on the particle size (size growth factor, GF) and on the scattering coefficient (scattering growth factor, f(RH)). The oxygen to carbon atomic ratios (O : C) of the particle surface and bulk were used as a sensitive parameter to correlate the changes in hygroscopic and optical properties of the SOA composition during their formation and aging in CESAM. The real CRI at 525 nm wavelength decreased from 1.43–1.60 (±0.02) to 1.32–1.38 (±0.02) during the SOA formation. The decrease in the real CRI correlated to the O : C decrease from 0.68 (±0.20) to 0.55 (±0.16). In contrast, the GF remained roughly constant over the reaction time, with values of 1.02–1.07 (±0.02) at 90% (±4.2%) RH. Simultaneous measurements of O : C of the particle surface revealed that the SOA was not composed of a homogeneous mixture, but contained less oxidised species at the surface which may limit water absorption. In addition, an apparent change in both mobility diameter and scattering coefficient with increasing RH from 0 to 30% was observed for SOA after 14 h of reaction. We postulate that this change could be due to a change in the viscosity of the SOA from a predominantly glassy state to a predominantly liquid state.
Aging of secondary organic aerosol generated from the ozonolysis of α-pinene: Effects of ozone, light and temperature
2015, Denjean, C., Formenti, P., Picquet-Varrault, B., Camredon, M., Pangui, E., Zapf, P., Katrib, Y., Giorio, C., Tapparo, A., Temime-Roussel, B., Monod, A., Aumont, B., Doussin, J.F.
A series of experiments was conducted in the CESAM (French acronym for Experimental Multiphasic Atmospheric Simulation Chamber) simulation chamber to investigate the evolution of the physical and chemical properties of secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) during different forcings. The present experiments represent a first attempt to comprehensively investigate the influence of oxidative processing, photochemistry, and diurnal temperature cycling upon SOA properties. SOAs generated from the ozonolysis of α-pinene were exposed under dry conditions (< 1% relative humidity) to (1) elevated ozone concentrations, (2) light (under controlled temperature conditions) or (3) light and heat (6 °C light-induced temperature increase), and the resultant changes in SOA optical properties (i.e. absorption and scattering), hygroscopicity and chemical composition were measured using a suite of instrumentation interfaced to the CESAM chamber. The complex refractive index (CRI) was derived from integrated nephelometer measurements of 525 nm wavelength, using Mie scattering calculations and measured number size distributions. The particle size growth factor (GF) was measured with a hygroscopic tandem differential mobility analyzer (H-TDMA). An aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) was used for the determination of the f44 / f43 and O : C ratio of the particles bulk. No change in SOA size or chemical composition was observed during O3 and light exposure at constant temperature; in addition, GF and CRI of the SOA remained constant with forcing. On the contrary, illumination of SOAs in the absence of temperature control led to an increase in the real part of the CRI from 1.35 (±0.03) to 1.49 (±0.03), an increase of the GF from 1.04 (±0.02) to 1.14 (±0.02) and an increase of the f44 / f43 ratio from 1.73 (±0.03) to 2.23 (±0.03). The simulation of the experiments using the master chemical mechanism (MCM) and the Generator for Explicit Chemistry and Kinetics of Organics in the Atmosphere (GECKO-A) shows that these changes resulted from the evaporation of semi-volatile and less oxidized SOA species induced by the relatively minor increases in temperature (~ 6 °C). These surprising results suggest that α-pinene–O3 SOA properties may be governed more by local temperature fluctuations than by oxidative processing and photochemistry.